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My name is Michael Braun. I teach strategy and entrepreneurship at the University of Montana. I am Swiss by birth and spent my early childhood attending German schools in Zurich, Brussels and London. I have lived in the United States since the mid-1980s. I received my B.A. in Asian Studies from Cornell University, an M.A. with Fellowship in Publishing and Media from New York University, an MBA from the University of Southern California, and a Ph.D. in Management from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Prior to my arrival in academia, I was a director with a Los Angeles-based boutique merchant bank, Stephens & Partners, where I initiated and managed leveraged buyout strategies and transactions for private equity firms, including the founding of Intelligrated, a leading materials handling solutions company (see link below). I also managed acquisitions and divestitures for private and publicly-traded firms (including WaterPik, ESCO Technologies, and Esterline Technologies). My early career was spent in business development in publishing, direct marketing, and e-commerce in Los Angeles, New York and Europe, working with clients such as Staples, Auto-by-tel, Conde Nast, 101Communications, and Shop2Give.
My academic research is mainly focused on exploring diverse organizational forms and their related structures and strategies. My interests include private and public family firms, leveraged buyouts and their variations, start-ups, as well as mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, and corporate restructuring.
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VenturePlanet Consulting & Seminar Services:
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| Through VenturePlanet, I provide consulting and seminar services to firms seeking guidance on strategic initiatives. In consulting engagements, I work alongside clients to reach pro-active and successful solutions to their business challenges. I also provide training seminars to companies seeking to refresh their managers on basic strategic frameworks and tools. These sessions also provide an opportunity for management to converge on common strategic visions and directions for their company.
Services include: CONSULTING - strategy formulation and analysis, business plan writing, investment capital raising, competitive landscaping, merger / acquisition searches, divestiture planning, and customer acquisition and retention services. SEMINARS - competitive and market place assessment, value chain/system analysis, core competency identification, diversification, and foreign market entry.
Sectors and industries of specialization include: materials handling and logistics, medical device manufacturing, water filtration and purification, direct marketing, publishing, and e-commerce.
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